‘…not something that can simply be thrown on shuffle whilst engaging with daily chores, but a record that demands you wade into its depths and remain there…’
Earlier this year, Sheffield four-piece since torino put out their debut EP, ‘a long night down to calgary’, which offered a tender, subdued, and hazy listening experience. For two members, however, putting out a solid debut EP wasn’t enough for 2025, and they’ve chosen to not simply release a record, but rip open a hole to another world entirely.
The duo of Ben Dodd and Alex Blake have spent the past year working on linoleumville, a multimedia project that brings together written word, illustration, and music to conjure up a story that is impossible to not feel invested in; there are temporal loops, a mysterious industrial plant, a doomed romance, and a river that isn’t quite what it seems, all nestled in small-town America.
The culmination of this is ‘1: a rip where a river should be’. This not an album of catchy hooks, wild vocal acrobatics, or moshable breakdowns, yet the lo-fi folk nature of linoleumville sound is no less compelling; the way in which this duo are able to construct dense collages of sound gives the whole record a living, breathing feeling. It demands patience and attention, and rewards with a listening experience unlike any other.
The album tells the story of Wallace, a charming stranger who arrives in the town of linoleumville. He falls in love with local waitress Connie, and aims to stop her from being taken to the mysterious titular river by a man known as John Gregory. Meanwhile, the town’s factory is alluded to be producing some form of cognitohazard substance, and a worker named only Flint has become somewhat afflicted by it.
The music and the narrative are certainly enjoyable independently, going to show how talented these creatives are. Yet together, what arises as the sum is somehow even more impressive than the parts; calling this a simple concept record would be doing a disservice to the scope of what is being produced here. This is immediately apparent with opening track ‘john gregory’s list’, with plumes of synth rising up above gentle suggestions of acoustic guitar, whilst the glitching, twinkling fuzz of electronics crackles away incessantly. ND Simpson provides a wonderful spoken word outro, alluding to Wallace being a man temporally displaced, whilst a female voice cuts through the music with the single repeated phrase of ‘I would have remembered that’.
‘circle’ features a looping, glitching instrumental, illuminated by moments of haunting strings and twinkling synths. Wallace has shot Gregory, but it’s too late; Connie has waded into the river, and the cycle must now repeat. ‘to see you and talk’ is marked by a gorgeous vocal duet of Dodd and Prima Hera, who have an incalculable sense of chemistry; both vocalists approach the music with hushed, whispery tones, yet whereas Dodd’s possesses a weary sorrow, Hera’s vocals glimmer with a sense of wonderment.
‘elegy for linear time’ is a brooding, moody number, with a simple guitar melody looping beneath particularly somber vocals. The crisp percussive sounds chosen for this number are akin to that of a Geiger counter, especially as the steady rhythm stumbles in the track’s closing moments. ‘hope you do’ offers the most “normal” listening experience, with a distinct cleaner folk sound; there is a strange contrast between the chirpy, buoyant rhythms and the subtly mournful nature of the melodies.
‘march 19th’ brings back Prima Hera for a particularly haunting number; the tracks swirls and builds into billowing gusts of music. The ominous melodies conjured by the vocals and violin elicit an undeniable sense of creeping dread. The record is brought to a close with the brooding instrumental number ‘linoleumville theme’, shifting the dynamic of this record to perhaps that of a prologue; the mystery of linoleumville is a story that is only just beginning to be told.
What is perhaps the single most impressive aspect of this record, however, is just how gently unsettling it is. linoleumville are masters of creating soundscapes that are both claustrophobic yet expansive, intimate yet alien, richly detailed yet barren. The listener may find moments of tangibility through soft grooves and feathery melodies, but it’s never from a place of overt catchiness; it is the record taking your hand and guiding you to places unknown. You may sit with the record, but never comfortably.
‘1: a rip where a river should be‘ is a must-listen record, but to simply listen does not do this record justice. What linoleumville have achieved is a bold artistic statement that deserves to be explored, examined, and experienced; this is not something that can simply be thrown on shuffle whilst engaging with daily chores, but a record that demands you wade into its depths and remain there.
Despite the album’s haunting, lo-fi nature, you cannot help but feel truly excited at what this experience offers. This is not merely a simple album, but the start of something that can only be imagined by a collective of artists who create with passion, creativity, and ambition. Set aside an hour, take a deep breath, and plunge yourself into the depths of ‘1: a rip where a river should be‘. You won’t be the same when you resurface.
RATING: 95/100 – Almost Perfect
For Fans Of: Twin Peaks (the TV show), DARK (also the TV show), Stranger Things (once more, the TV show), Seahaven, The Prize Fighter Inferno, Adjy
Physical copies of the accompanying zine can be purchased here.
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